Verso sera

Films like this make you realize that, for all its glamour and its money, Hollywood is really irrelevant in today's cinema. This is one of those films that could only be made in Europe; as far as I know, the film wasn't even distributed in the US, which is just as well, because I doubt that the American public could have appreciated this film without special effects, without the mandatory one-thrill-every-20-minutes, with a thin plot, and great multidimensional characters.

The film is the story of the relation between an old Communist (who defines himself as Hegelian, rather than Marxist) who grew up in a party of social order and almost puritan lifestyle, and his daughter, a product of Italy's extra-parliamentary left in the 1970's which was, at the time, storming through the convictions of the previous communist generation.

The strongest point of the movie is the equilibrium in the representation of the political conflict between two worlds (which had to be a major part of a narration set in years in which "the private is public" was an ongoing slogan) and the personal conflict between two people (a homage to the more reclusive and private 90's).

Great performances of Marcello Mastroianni, Sandrine Bonnaire, and the young Lara Pranzoni as "Papere."

Very literate and poignant, and sometimes comical, the script storyline tracks the arc and back again of the relationship between a wealthy, upper-class professor who cursory espouses to Communism, his free-spirited daughter-in-law who is sexually and experimentally focused, and his reality-based five year old granddaughter. The Professor's son can't face his responsibility and, with his father's help, leaves the city for farming. The elderly housekeeper tries to keep order, even though she, too, is effected by the chaos that swarms around the household. Outstanding performances by the entire cast culminates with the growth in understanding by all parties involved. Or so you think...

At first glance Verso Sera (Towards Nightfall) seems to have a lot going for it, beginning with excellent actors Marcello Mastroianni and Sandrine Bonnaire. Both of these performers are familiar to American fans of European cinema who have enjoyed their many performances over the years. The theme of the conflict between leftists of different generations is fascinating and the writers of this film have clearly made an effort to capture this conflict, including its more subtle aspects, in the dialog. Despite the interesting dialog, however, I found the plot and character development to be flawed.

The characters are not convincing as human beings. Mastroianni and Bonnaire's characters function only as symbols for the two different generations. As such, they are created as extreme opposites, with the result that each seems almost a caricature of what he/she is supposed to represent. Their actions often seem abrupt and inexplicable because these actions are simply devices for illustrating the generational conflict. Mastroianni and Bonnaire do their best with the material. Bonnaire's character ultimately shows more complexity, while Mastroianni's remains a boring cipher of a man. In this movie, one is not allowed to be a socialist and be an interesting person at the same time.

The actors playing the maid and Mastroianni's son overact their roles and are given to excessive facial gestures such as grimacing which seems more appropriate to the stage than to film.

Finally, the sound -- including dialog, and ambient sounds -- appears to have been overdubbed which gives the film an artificial quality. The credit music has a raucous quality and feels jarringly inappropriate.

Verso Sera has a very interesting and historically significant story to tell, the subject matter deserves film studio treatment.